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We finally got to see some gameplay of Battlefield 1 at E3 today and got a good look at some of the weapons that will be in the game. Many people are worried that the pace of Battlefield 1 will slow down significantly with everybody only using bolt-action rifles. However, there were a ton of diverse weapons that were used throughout the great war including tons of weird experimental ones, some of which were on display in the trailer. With that in mind, I thought I would go through the trailer and talk about the guns we’ve seen so far.

The first weapon we get our eyes on in the Battlefield 1 trailer is the Webley MK VI revolver. The British started out the war adopting the Webley MK V, but the shipment didn’t arrive to troops before combat operations began. As such, there was a considerably larger number of MK IV’s in service until they adopted the MK VI on May 24th 1916. We get a better look at it here and can identify it as the MK VI with its squared off grip and 6 inch barrel.

Manufactured by RSAF Enfield the MK IV is a break-action revolver that utilizes 6 .455 Webley cartridges. It was an extremely common weapon through the course of the war and it’s no surprise to see it in Battlefield 1. It will probably be your standard sidearm when playing on the allied side of the war along with the Colt 1911 which I’m certain will show up.

The next weapon we see comes as no surprise either: the German Mauser C96, sarcastically referred to as the broomhandle pistol by American troops. It is perhaps most renowned in gaming in its “Red 9” configuration thanks to Resident Evil 4. With a stock that converts it into a carbine and a red 9 emblazoned on the grip indicate that the model was chambered for 9x19mm parabellum rounds.

This is the model most commonly seen among German infantry at the time and is loaded by feeding an internal magazine with a stripper clip capable of holding 10 rounds. While this was the most common form of the weapon during the great war, many armies adopted different models of it. Winston Churchill and Lawrence of Arabia even reportedly carried them at one time. You can see a soldier using the red 9 variant towards the end of the Battlefield 1 trailer. We know that you will be able to play as Lawrence of Arabia so we might see a specialized version deployed by him. The closed iron sights we see on the back of the weapon are not historically accurate which makes me think that there will be sight unlocks for your weapons much like previous Battlefield games.

The next weapon we see is the much more rare Spanish Mondragón rifle. This was one of the first, possibly even the first, semi-automatic rifles to see combat service. The German army bought very small quantities of them and fielded them for testing purposes. Reportedly there were problems with cartridge feeding and they never saw wider use.

Next is the considerably rare Beretta M1918. It was a 9mm automatic carbine that came in several variants and was chambered for 9mm. It was issued in small numbers to Italian forces in 1918, so it didn’t see much combat before the close of the war. We also don’t know a whole lot about it because documentation is hard to come by and hasn’t been translated out of Italian yet.

Then we come across the Hotchkiss M1909 Benét–Mercié machine gun. A light machine gun designed by the French and adopted by several militaries including the U.S. It was a large caliber gun and you can see it wreaking havoc and destroying chunks of walls in the trailer.

The gun loads with a solid feed strip that you can also see being loaded in the trailer.

Another rarity is the Italian Cei-Rigotti an early automatic gas rifle. In fact, there is actually some debate among historians as to whether or not this or the Mondragón was the first automatic rifle to see combat service. This will likely play very similarly to the Mondragón.

The next gun is another one we all expected to see, the German MP18, amachine pistol that saw extended service throughout the great war, despite many troops complaining of feeding problems with its horizontal drum magazine. It will almost certainly play a big role in Battlefield 1 and we can see it being used by a motorcycle mounted infantrymen so it may be in the employ of more vehicle focused troops.

Chambered in 9×19 parabellum it was one of the first submachine guns to see combat service and paved the way for modern open-bolt submachine gun design. You can also see a soldier being attacked with it’s fixed bayonet towards the beginning of the trailer, although historically bayonets were never fixed to the gun.

It’s good to see that DICE are digging into a lot of the more interesting experimental weapons that were available during the first world war and I’m interested to see what else they bring out in future trailers. We really haven’t seen many of the bolt-action rifles or light machine guns that I expect to see at some point.